Work vehicles are configured to perform a wide variety of tasks for use such as construction vehicles, forestry vehicles, lawn maintenance vehicles, as well as on-road vehicles such as those used to plow snow, spread salt, or vehicles with towing capability. Additionally, work vehicles include agricultural vehicles, such as a tractor or a self-propelled combine-harvester, which include a prime mover that generates power to perform work. In the case of a tractor, for instance, the prime mover is often a diesel engine that generates power from a supply of diesel fuel. The diesel engine drives a transmission which moves wheels or treads to propel the tractor across a field. Tractors often include a power takeoff (PTO) which includes a shaft coupled to the transmission and driven by the engine to provide mechanical power to a work implement being pulled or pushed through a field by the tractor.
Hitch couplers, such as quick coupler hitches, have been developed to allow faster attachment of a tractor to a rear mounted implement. Quick coupler hitches may include an inverted U-shaped frame attached to a conventional three point hitch. The frame of a quick coupler hitch may have an upper hook and two lower coupling hooks or jaws with a latching and unlatching arrangement to hold the implement hitch pins. To hook up a quick coupler hitch to an implement, the hitch may be lowered and the tractor backed into place near the implement. The quick coupler hitch is then raised with the tractor's hydraulic system so that the upper hook engages the upper pin on the implement. Further lifting causes the implement's lower hitch pins to enter the lower hooks of the quick coupler.
The PTO that extends from the tractor to the implement is directly coupled to the implement to drive an operation being performed by the implement. In different embodiments, the implements include a spreader, a rotary mower, a rotary tiller, and other types of implements. The implement receives rotary power from the PTO to drive the operation of the particular implement to which the tractor is connected.
Different types of implements perform many different types of functions necessary to complete one or more given tasks. The demands of the tasks, however, can require the operator to switch implements quite often, even during the course of a single day. Connecting the implement to the work vehicle is a skilled job and requires a certain amount of skill that is learned over time. An unskilled or less skilled operator will take longer to attach the implement to the vehicle than it takes for a skilled operator to complete the same attachment. Connecting an implement to a three point hitch is a particularly skilled operation. In some cases, the operator requires the assistance of another person to complete the task of attaching the implement to the vehicle.
What is needed therefore is an assistance solution including a method and apparatus to attach the implement to a hitch, without the need for another person, other than a work vehicle operator, to connect the implement to the work vehicle.